Zoo: John Ball statue to be moved

Matt Jaworowski
·2 min read
1
Zoo: John Ball statue to be moved

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Another change is coming to the John Ball Zoo. The statue of the zoo’s namesake will be moved.

A spokesperson representing the zoo told News 8 that work began on Feb. 26 and is being led by Rockford Construction. Crews have poured the new base for the statue, and it will be moved once the base has cured.

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The 99-year-old statue, which currently sits inside the zoo’s entrance, will be moved outside the entrance to make room for expansion and to allow people to interact with it even when the zoo is closed.

The John Ball statue, a bronze depiction of an elderly Ball visiting with two children, sits inside the entrance of the John Ball Zoo.
An undated photo of the John Ball statue at John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids. (Courtesy John Ball Zoo)

“Millions of people have photographs of their families with the John Ball statue year after year,” JBZ Director of Facilities, Planning and Sustainability Allmon Forrester said in a statement. “Moving it outside the Zoo’s entrance will make it more accessible to our community.”

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This is the third time the statue has been moved. The statue originally sat in what is now a parking lot east of the Guest Services building. In 1951, it was moved to its current location.

The statue depicts John Ball with two young children. According to the zoo, Ball’s son Waldo and two of Ball’s grandchildren served as the models for the sculptor.

The bronze depiction was based on a design by local artist Gertrude Van Houten. An Italian sculptor, Pompeo Coppini, was commissioned to bring it to life. The statue was installed in John Ball Park in 1925 and has since been added to the National Register of Outdoor Sculpture.

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John Ball lived a long and adventurous life. He was born in 1794 in New Hampshire and worked as a teacher, a lawyer, a realtor, a legislator and even an explorer during his 89 years. He ventured as far as Fort Vancouver in Oregon and is considered a pioneer there.

He had headed back east and by 1837 had settled in Grand Rapids. Upon his death in 1884, he gave 40 acres of his land back to the city for public use. The land, first known as the “Ball 40,” eventually became known as John Ball Park. Within a decade, a menagerie of animals was kept on the property, laying the foundation for what is now John Ball Zoo.

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